The Sky Itself Was In This Very Room (2014)

String quartet or string orchestra / 10 minutes

Digital video by Jacobo Borges (2021)

PREMIERE

Commissioned by the Arneis String Quartet

Premiere: Date; Chestnut Hill Skyspace (Philadelphia, PA)
Arneis String Quartet

MEDIA

Perusal Score

PURCHASE SCORE

NOTE

This work was composed for the inaugural concert in the James Turrell skyspace installation entitled “Greet the Light” in Philadelphia. The primary feature of the installation is a precision-cut rectangular opening in the ceiling of the space that creates the illusion of the sky itself being projected on an unbroken white surface. Hour-long openings of the skyspace take place during sunrise and sunset as the “image” of the sky changes slowly, inexorably, from darkness to light and back again.

This work, which was premiered during part of a sunset opening, unfolds in a single, unbroken arc. The version for string orchestra closes with an ad-lib timpani entrance, a device borrowed from Sibelius’ magnificnet, understated Andante Festivo.